How "Perfectionist" Demi Lovato Found Power and Self-Love in Posting Swimsuit Photos

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Maybe it's the strapless one-piece, the cleavage-baring cherry swimsuit, or even the bright pink plunging bathing suit, but it's no coincidence that Demi Lovato has found solace and self-love in her influx of gorgeous swimwear photos on Instagram. While the singer has not been shy about her struggles with body image and confidence in the past, her contagious smile in all these photos is speaking volumes. Demi recently sat down with Ellen DeGeneres, where she opened up about the time she's spent working on herself and this incredible newfound feeling of self-love.

"I've been working on myself for the past year, more so than I've ever worked on myself. I've really surrendered to the process of just learning to love yourself, and I feel like it shows through my pictures," Demi said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "I post more bathing suit pictures online. I want to show my fans that it's possible that they can get to that self-love too."

Ellen brought up a recent photo of Demi's that had been getting a lot of buzz because of her comments about feeling "insecure" about her legs. Ellen was just as perplexed as we were as to what Demi thought was wrong with her legs, but she explained it's the constant struggle as a "perfectionist" that she deals with on a regular basis. A major key to her eating disorder recovery has been to ignore the negative comments on her photos.

"I actually was very hesitant about posting that because I didn't love my legs in it," she shared. "You know every time you look at a picture of yourself, you critique it. I'm a perfectionist. I decided to post it anyways because I thought, 'You know what, it's me, it's who I am, and I love my body, so I'm just going to post it.'" And we're so glad she did!

Demi added, "I've taken away the power from the negative comments and the haters by not listening to them and if I do see it, I just feel sorry for them, because who leaves a negative comment on somebody's profile on the internet? You have to be kind of sad to do that. I've taken away the power, and it just feels great."

Watch the clip with Ellen above, and then, check out some of Demi's most body-positive and confident workout photos.